Jewellery clasp

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a new and improved clasp for attaching jewellery items which have a loop and a clasp closure to a chain, necklace or bracelet or similar item that provides a jewellery clasp for securing an ornamental item to a continuous chain comprising a pair of oppositely oriented decorative portions hinged on one side of a tubular member extending circumferentially around the clasp and terminating in a short gap at the opposite side of the hinged portion, a gap closure member extending from one of the decorative portions adapted to releasably secure the decorative potions in a closed position thereby closing the gap.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new and improved clasp for attachingjewellery items which have a loop and a clasp closure to a chain,necklace or bracelet or similar item.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the past, most jewellery items such as pendants or charms wereattached to chains or the like by opening a link on the chain andplacing a pendant on the chain. One of the problems with these productswas that it was difficult to open the link on the chain or necklace andwhen opened, the charms or pendants could easily falloff the chain ornecklace.

The present invention has overcome these difficulties and problems byproviding the means to attach the charm or the pendant directly to thechain or necklace on the charm or pendant directly and not on the chainor necklace. This invention also allows for charms, pendants and thelike to be attached to a chain which is a continuous chain and whichdoes not have an opening link or device to secure the charm to the chainon the chain itself. Thus charms and the like can be affixed to acontinuous chain or necklace which does not have an opening link on thechain.

Common bracelets or necklaces have a means on the bracelet or thenecklace to secure a bead, a charm or a decorative item to the chain.These means typically comprise a clasp to secure the charm or if a beadis to be inserted onto the bracelet, a clasp which may be inserteddirectly through the bead or charm itself. This of course requires thatthe necklace have a link which can be opened and then secured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been designed to overcome these disadvantagesby providing that the insert such as a charm or pendant include a meansto secure the charm or pendant directly to a chain by opening a clasp onthe charm or pendant itself and then mounting the pendant on the chain.

To this end, in one of its embodiments, the invention provides ajewellery clasp for securing an ornamental item to a continuous chaincomprising a pair of oppositely oriented decorative portions hinged onone side of a tubular member extending circumferentially around theclasp and terminating in a short gap at the opposite side of the hingedportion, a gap closure member extending from one of the decorativeportions adapted to releasably secure the decorative potions in a closedposition thereby closing the gap.

In another of its aspects, the invention provides a jewellery clasp forsecuring an ornamental item to a continuous chain comprising a pair ofoppositely oriented decorative portions hinged on one side of a tubularmember extending circumferentially around the clasp and terminating in ashort gap at the opposite side of the hinged portion, a gap closuremember extending from one of the decorative portions adapted toreleasably secure the decorative potions in a closed position therebyclosing the gap, wherein the gap closure member is a tongue portionextending inwardly from one of the decorative elements.

In yet another of its aspects, the invention provides a jewellery claspfor securing an ornamental item to a continuous chain comprising a pairof oppositely oriented decorative portions hinged on one side of atubular member extending circumferentially around the clasp andterminating in a short gap at the opposite side of the hinged portion, agap closure member extending from one of the decorative portions adaptedto releasably secure the decorative potions in a closed position therebyclosing the gap, wherein the gap closure member is tongue portionextending inwardly from one of the decorative elements and the tongueportion is press fitted to secure the decorative portions together.

In yet a still further aspect of the invention, it provides a jewelleryclasp for securing an ornamental item to a continuous chain comprising apair of oppositely oriented decorative portions hinged on one side of atubular member extending circumferentially around the clasp andterminating in a short gap at the opposite side of the hinged portion, agap closure member extending from one of the decorative portions adaptedto releasably secure the decorative potions in a closed position therebyclosing the gap, wherein the gap closure member is tongue portionextending inwardly from one of the decorative elements and the tongueportion is press fitted to secure the decorative portions together,wherein the tubular member is a continuous member extending through achannel attached to the two decorative portions thereby allowing thedecorative portions to be swung away from each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a pendant having the new clasp in the closed position.

FIG. 2 shows a side view the pendant of FIG. 1 in an open position.

FIG. 3 shows the pendant of FIG. 1 in a fully open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will be made to a pendant have the new clasp but the inventionof the new clasp is equally applicable to any insert to be mounted on achain, a necklace, a bracelet or on any similar item.

The pendant comprises an ornamental portion 2 on its front 4 and on itsrear surface 6 (not shown in FIG. 1). A circumferential tubular member 9extends around the ornamental portions as shown in FIG. 1 therebyproviding a closed ring when the ornamental portion 2 is in the closedposition. A chain 11 is secured through the closed ring in the assembledcondition thus retaining the pendant on the chain.

The tubular member 9 carries a hinge portion or connector 8 at themid-point of a first side of the pendant which allows ornamentalportions 4,6 to swing away and pivot from each other as shown in FIG. 2.

The tubular member 9 extends upwardly from connector 8 and back down theopposite side terminating at end portion 12. In the opposite direction,tubular member 9 extends in the opposite direction from the connector 8terminating in an end portion 16 leaving a short gap 20 between endportion 12 and end portion 16. This gap 20 is sufficiently wide to allowa standard chain to be inserted through the gap and attached to eitherelement 10 or element 14.

The tubular member 9 may be a continuous member or may be two separatemembers welded or otherwise secured at each end of connector 8.

One of the ornamental portions 4,6 carries a locking element 22 which isadapted to lock the clasp in a closed and locked position as shown inFIG. 1 when the two ornamental portions 4,6 are pivoted towards the gap20.

In one embodiment, the locking element 22 is a short rectangular tongue26 affixed to the ornamental portion 4 which extends over the gap 20 andpress fits closed with the opposite element 6.

In operation, the tongue 26 is forced away from the opposite ornamentalportion 6 and each ornamental portion 4, 6 is swung away from thetubular member 9. By swinging each ornamental portion 4,6 away from thetubular member 9, this leaves the gap 20 in the open position allowing achain or similar article to be inserted through the gap. After insertingthe chain, each ornamental portion 4, 6 is swung to the closed positionand the tongue 26 is press fitted to the opposite ornamental portionthereby closing the gap 20 and preventing the charm from falling off thechain.

With this structure, the pendant may be placed on the chain withoutopening the chain and possibly losing the other pendants which may beattached to the chain. Also, a pendant may be placed on a chain whichdoes not have a means to open the chain, in other words, a continuouschain.

It is also noted that with this invention, one may place two or morechains on the pendant itself or in fact, may secure one pendant to asecond pendant and then to a chain. This flexibility provides andimproved structure for connecting a variety and number of pendants and anumber of chains together.

While the principles of the invention are described in one embodiment ofthe invention, those skilled in this art may make modifications in thestructure, arrangement and components of the invention without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended that thedescription and drawings be illustrative and not limiting in any senseand that the invention be given a scope commensurate with the inventionreferred to therein.

1. A jewellery clasp for securing an ornamental item to a continuouschain comprising a pair of oppositely oriented decorative portionshinged on one side of a tubular member extending circumferentiallyaround said clasp and terminating in a short gap at the opposite side ofsaid hinged portion, a gap closure member extending from one of saiddecorative portions adapted to releasably secure said decorative potionsin a closed position thereby closing said gap.
 2. A jewellery clasp asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said gap closure member is a tongue portionextending inwardly from said one decorative element.
 3. A jewelleryclasp as claimed in claim 2 wherein said tongue portion is press fittedto secure said decorative portions together.
 4. A jewellery clasp asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said tubular member is a continuous memberextending through a channel attached to said two decorative portionsthereby allowing said decorative portions to be swung away from eachother.
 5. A jewellery clasp as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tubularmember is secured to a hinge element adapted to allow each decorativeelement to be swung away from each other.